JP2001205890A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system in which the type of a print sheet currently loaded on a printer can be recognized on a host computer by transmitting sheet information thereto when a plurality of types of print sheet are used for printing while replacing. SOLUTION: A position detecting mark (7) put on a print sheet (5) contains sheet information of print sheet and a position detecting means provided in a printer detects the position and the sheet information. Detected sheet information is transmitted to a host computer (2).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing system in which a printer and a host computer are connected, and more particularly to detection of paper information of a printing paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing system for printing on print paper having a position detection mark disposed on the back, for example, a label printing printer for printing on label paper In a print system for printing, a position detection mark is disposed on the back. When paper is loaded into the printer, the printer automatically transports the print paper until it detects the position detection mark placed on the back, sets the print paper in the predetermined position, and sets the print paper in the predetermined position. Then, it is configured to notify the host computer that the print paper is loaded and the setting is completed.

[0003]

However, in the conventional print system, it is only possible to recognize information that the print paper is loaded and the setting is completed. For example, a plurality of types of print paper are replaced to perform printing. In this case, immediately after the replacement, the operator can know what kind of print paper is currently loaded and in what state because the operator has performed the operation himself. If it is located at a remote location, every time printing is performed, the size of the loaded print paper and the loading status of the print paper, that is, whether the loaded print paper is in the vertical direction or the horizontal or vertical direction Has to go to the position of the printer in order to confirm the situation. Also, for example, in a label print printer print system that prints on label paper, the print paper is stored in a housing case in a roll shape, and it is checked whether the print paper to be printed is loaded every time printing is performed. For this reason, there is an inconvenience that the roll-shaped print paper must be taken out of the housing case and the type and state of the loaded print paper must be checked.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional print system, and an object of the present invention is to replace a plurality of types of print papers with each other when printing is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system which can transmit the type of paper to a host computer as paper information and recognize it on the host computer.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a printing system in which a printer having detecting means for detecting a position detecting mark provided on a print sheet is connected to a host computer. The position detection mark includes paper information of the print paper, the detecting means detects the paper information, and the printer has a means for transmitting the paper information to the host computer.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a print system according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a printer, and 2 is a host computer. Reference numerals 3 and 11 denote connection paths for transmitting information between the printer 1 and the host computer 2, and may be constituted by a serial interface, for example.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a print mechanism, and 5 denotes a print sheet. The print mechanism 4 receives print information, for example, print data or image data generated by the host computer 2 via the connection path 3 and prints the print paper 5. Printing is performed on the surface 5a. A transport mechanism 6 transports the print paper 5 in the transport direction 9. Reference numeral 7 denotes a position detection mark provided on the back surface 5b of the print paper 5.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a detecting means for detecting the position detecting mark 7, which is provided so as to detect the position detecting mark 7 when the printing paper 5 is conveyed to the printing start position by the conveying mechanism 6. The detection means 8 can be constituted by, for example, a reflection type photo interrupter. When the back surface 5b of the print paper 5 is displayed in white and the position detection mark 7 is displayed in black, the difference in the amount of reflection of each light is detected. Thus, the position detection mark 7 can be detected.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a transmission unit which transmits the paper information of the print paper 5 to be described below with reference to FIG. 2 or FIG. For example, when the connection path 11 is a serial interface, the transmission unit 10 converts paper information into serial data and transmits the serial data together with various printer statuses such as presence or absence of printer paper.

Next, the operation of the printing system according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

First, when the print paper 5 is loaded into the printer 1, the transport mechanism 6 starts the automatic transport of the print paper 5 in the transport direction 9, and automatically when the detecting means 8 detects the position detecting mark 7. Stop conveyance. Thus, the print paper 5 is automatically conveyed to the print start position and set.

On the other hand, the paper information of the print paper 5 contained in the position detecting mark 7 is simultaneously detected by the detecting means 8 and transmitted to the host computer 2 by the transmitting means 10. The paper information is, for example, the paper size, paper quality, paper thickness, etc. of the print paper 5, and the host computer 2 displays the information on the monitor, for example, based on the paper information transmitted by the transmission means 10 and recognizes it by the operator. Or print information that matches the paper information and sends it to the printer 1.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of the printing paper 5 of FIG. 1, as viewed from the back 5b side.
The position detection mark 7 is, for example, coded paper information and displayed in the form of a bar code. After the print paper 5 is loaded and automatically conveyed in the conveyance direction 9 in the printer 1 of FIG. By scanning in the scanning direction 12 by the detecting means 8, the position of the print sheet is detected by detecting the display position of the bar code, and at the same time, the contents of the bar code are read to obtain the sheet information.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the print sheet 5 of FIG. The print paper 5 is in the form of a so-called roll paper in which label paper 5c having a paste-like substance applied to the back surface is arranged in a row on a backing paper 5d and wound in a roll shape. The position detecting mark 7 is provided on the back side of the mount 5d in units of label paper, and the print paper 5 is transported in the transport direction 9 to obtain the paper information in the same manner as described above.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the print paper is set in the printer, the paper information of the print paper is detected and transmitted to the host computer. In this case, the paper information of the print paper set in the printer can be recognized by the operator on the host computer, and the host computer can generate print information matching the paper information. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of a print system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of a printer sheet in the print system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the printer paper in the print system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Host computer 3, 11 Connection path 4 Printing mechanism 5 Printing paper 5a Printing surface 5b Back surface 5c Label paper 5d Backing paper 6 Transport mechanism 7 Position detecting mark 8 Detecting means 9 Transport direction 10 Transmission means 12 Scanning direction

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printing system, a printer having a detecting means for detecting a position detection mark provided on a print sheet is connected to a host computer, the position detection mark contains sheet information of the print sheet. A print system comprising means for detecting the sheet information by the detection means and transmitting the sheet information to the host computer by the printer.